This invention relates to decorative emblems and methods of making them, and more particularly to decorative emblems having an embedded image or design with an enhanced depth of vision and a method for making same.
Decorative emblems are widely used throughout a number of industries including the automotive and appliance industries. Recently they have been also used to apply logos to and/or to enhance the appearance of shoes, gloves, musical instruments, golf clubs and other articles of commerce. In the past, such emblems were formed by flowing a colored vitreous frit into a bronze substrate and firing it at 1250xc2x0 F. The glass-like vitreous enamel served to beautify the product and protect the decorative emblem from weathering. Today, plastics are primarily used for making such emblems. Thus in Waugh, U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,010, there is disclosed a process of producing decorative emblems by casting a plastic material onto decorative foil shapes to form a meniscus which when cured gives a lens effect to the top surface of the foil. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,087,570 and 4,139,654.
Another version of the Waugh type decorative emblem, where the cured plastic resin is integral with the bezel, is shown in Bree U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,160. There, after an initial casting of a measured amount of plastic onto the base of the bezel, the foil is inserted and seated. A second cast of plastic forms a cap contiguous with the sides of the bezel and encapsulates the foil and bonds it within the bezel. Upon curing, the plastic cap gives a lens effect to the decorative emblem. In an alternative embodiment, a decorative foil shape is placed directly onto the base of the bezel, and a fluent, curable plastic material is cast thereon. As the plastic material cures, it migrates around the edges and under the foil to at least partially encapsulate the foil and bond it within the bezel.
Also known generally is the concept of encapsulating an article in plastic by casting, partially curing, inserting the article, casting again, and completing the cure. For example, in Brody, U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,211, the article is a metal foil of a multicolored iridescent body embedded between two layers of a polyester resin; in Smith, U.S. Pat. No. 3,312,197, the article is a facsimile of a coin embedded between a transparent and an opaque, colored plastic resin material; and in Miori, U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,947, the article is embedded between two different layers of plastic resin material.
While encapsulated foils and articles thus exist, they lack a fill depth of vision which gives the embedded object the appearance of xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d in space. The only prior art patent known to applicants which address the issue of depth of vision is Yaver U.S. Pat. No. 4,877,657. That patent discloses a decorative trim strip with enhanced depths of vision. The trim strip comprises an elongated transparent or translucent core of a plastic material. A bottom surface of the core is covered with an opaque layer and an adhesive layer. A top surface of the core has a thin covering of a metal having a mirror-like appearance with selected portions removed so that a pattern of the underlying opaque layer is revealed. A transparent plastic overlay is formed over the top covering of metal. The overlay has radiused edges to give enhanced depth of vision to the trim strip. Still the depth of vision obtained is not one where a xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d image or design is perceived.
Accordingly, the need remains for decorative emblems which have an embedded image or design with an enhanced depth of vision.
The present invention meets that need by providing a decorative emblem having an embedded image or design with an enhanced depth of vision in the form of a layered composite. The first layer of the layered composite is a substrate preferably having an adhesive, such as a pressure sensitive adhesive, and a release film on its bottom surface; although, other attachment mechanisms may be used. The top surface, then, has a decorative pattern, which may be screen printed, on it to form a decorative substrate.
The substrate may be a metal foil, metallized plastic film, plastic, paper film or other material. Over the decorative pattern on the top surface of the substrate is at least one layer of transparent plastic material which has a substantially flat top surface. By transparent plastic material it is meant a plastic material through which an image is visible, even though it may be tinted or colored plastic, as well as clear plastic. The layer of plastic material is preferably a flow coated polyurethane which is die cut to form a substantially perpendicular edge around the periphery of the layer of plastic material, or xe2x80x9chard edge,xe2x80x9d for the purpose of creating a domed lens cap when the transparent plastic overlay, which may also be a polyurethane, is, then, flow coated over the layer of plastic material.
However, before that is done an image or design is printed, preferably by screen printing, or similar type of printing method such as, pad printing or hot stamping on the substantially flat top surface of the layer of plastic material. When the transparent plastic overlay is formed with its radiused edges, an enhanced depth of vision is given to the decorative emblem. Thus, a lens effect is created which enhances the appearance of the decorative pattern on the decorative substrate and the image or design on the layer of plastic material has the appearance of xe2x80x9cfloatingxe2x80x9d above the decorative pattern on the decorative substrate.
It is possible to form multiple layers of plastic material in order to increase the thickness of the base for the printed image or design and, thus, create a greater distance between the image or design and the decorative pattern on the decorative substrate. Alternatively, an image or design can be printed on the substantially flat surface of each layer of plastic material to give a multiple floating image/domed lens effect.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide decorative emblems having an embedded image or design with an enhanced depth of vision and unique aesthetics. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of making such decorative emblems. These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the drawings, detailed description of the invention, and the appended claims